ReasonForOurHope

Friday, August 9, 2013

New Movie Stars: Anna Kendrick's "Cups"

I've written at length about the death of the traditional movie stars and how there are very few people with enough of a following to open up a movie with the strength of their name. Tom Cruise and Adam Sandler, minus a few missteps are a couple of the few.

But I've tried to find who has the potential to be big. I remember when I saw The Quick and the Dead in the theaters, I was fascinated by newcomber Russel Crowe and I remember thinking that this man should be a star. A few years later I was proven right with the release of Gladiator.

I think the same thing about Anna Kendrick. So far, movies where she has played the lead have done fairly well, but have not been blockbusters.

But last year's Pitch Perfect is an interesting case. She was the lead actress in a charmingly fluffy movie that made a respectable $65 million at the box office. But this movie got such good buzz after it left theaters that DVD sales skyrocketed. This is especially important since sales of DVD's have been on a steady decline. The soundtrack also sold amazingly. But strangest of all, a short accapella solo that Kendrick sang broke through the top 100 on iTunes.

Capitalizing on that, the music studio has done a fully produced version of the song along with this music video:

Looking ahead, Kendrick is slated to appear in a lot of smaller, independent movies. But she is also going to be playing Cinderella in Into the Woods and is signed on to do Pitch Perfect 2. She seems like a serious young actress who does not strut around for the paparazzi party scene. But if she builds on this fan base, I think she has it within her to become a new movie star.

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MOVIE MORAL METRICS (for reading film reviews on this blog)

Objectionable = the content is strongly negative and may have negative effects on some viewers

Mature = the content may be objectionable to some, but it should only be viewed by someone mature enough to properly process the contentAcceptable = the content may have a few morally questionable items, but it does not have enough immorality to make it mature or objectionable, but it does not necessarily support good morality

No Objection: it's all good!

Prayer to St. Joseph for a Difficult Problem

O Glorious St. Joseph, thou who hast power to render possible even things which are considered impossible, come to our aid in our present trouble and distress. Take this important and difficult affair under thy particular protection, that it may end happily. (MENTION YOUR REQUEST)

O dear St. Joseph, all our confidence is in thee. Let it not be said that we would invoke thee in vain; and since thou art so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that thy goodness equals thy power. Amen.

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About Me

A little about me: I am a devoutly Catholic theology teacher
who loves a popular culture that often, quite frankly, hates me.I grew up absorbing every movie, TV show, comic
book, science fiction novel, etc. I could find.As of today I’ve watched over 2100 movies and tv shows.They take up a huge part of my life.I don’t know that this is a good thing, but
it has given me a common vocabulary to draw from in order to illustrate
whatever theological point I make in class.I’ve used American Pie the song to explain the Book of Revelation (I’ll
post on this some time later) and American Pie the movie to help explain Eucharist
(don’t ask).The point is that the
popular culture is popular for a reason.It is woven into the fabric of our lives and imaginations, for good or
ill.In this blog I will attempt to
bring together the things of heaven with the things of earth.Of course this goal may be too lofty for
someone like me.